South Carolina Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics: Policy Day in Columbia PUBLIC POLICY PARTNERS TRAINING Objectives At the end of this session you will be able to: Describe the SCAND Public Policy Panel goals and objectives and define the role of a Public Policy Partner Express basic understanding of the South Carolina legislature and locate your legislator online Choose to become a Public Policy Partner and form a relationship with your legislator Federal Tim Scott Lindsay Graham 1
Congressional Districts State Congressional Districts http://www.sciway.net/maps/government.html Who do you belong to? Based on your address, you are a constituent of one of the 46 senators, and 124 representatives district Find your Representative and Senator: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/ 2
Take out your card write it down! Influence letters, emails and phone calls from constituents meetings with constituents town meetings or other public forums with constituents meetings with political allies meetings with lobbyists media coverage social media research conducted by their staff members their own surveys of voters 3
SCAND Public Policy Panel Position Board Member 2015/16 2016/17 Affiliate President (AP) Affiliate Delegate (Del) Public Policy Coordinator (PPC) State Policy Representative (SPR) State Regulatory Specialist (SPR) Consumer Protection Coordinator (CPC) Reimbursement Representative (RR) Public Policy Partners Coordinator (PPP C) District Legislative Chair/Policy Liaison Federal/State Issues Assistants Public Policy Partners Cat Holley Susan Steck Rita Haliena Charlotte Caperton Kilburn Nina Crowley Jennifer Schlub Kristen Quisenberry Rebecca Fuller Cindy Thomas Katherine Shavo Jamie Kandora Ashley Galloway CTDA Brooke Jackson Kayce Boggs CMDA Claire Tidwell PDA Cindy Thomas Stephanie Simms/Stephanie Wadsten YOU! SCAND Public Policy Partner Dietitian member of SCAND who agrees to personally contact their legislator several times a year to establish regular communication about who dietitians are, what we do, and why we are the nutrition experts! Contact Legislators (phone, email, in person) Training on communication, provided talking points, scripts, templates Keep track of interactions with Legislators Attend Policy Day and Policy related events! Our Goal: 1 Public Policy Partner for every county (46 counties) What are the benefits? Legislators make decisions about our future every day, and many times, these decisions have to do with health and nutrition, an area they know little about, but one that you know A LOT about! We want YOU to be their GO TO person to ask when anything comes up about the health, wellness, or nutrition of South Carolinians. It is important that ALL dietitians have a relationship with their legislator so that if important nutrition policy emerges, you already have established rapport with the decision makers! As a bonus, being involved in nutrition policy is a great resume builder! 4
How to become a Public Policy Partner Public Policy Partners Webpage: http://www.eatrightsc.org/?page=ppp To sign up to be a Public Policy Partner fill out the form located here: http://tinyurl.com/scpolicypartners Talk to Any Policy Panel Member Ashley Galloway, Public Policy Partner Coordinator scpolicypartner@gmail.com Visit our Booth on Thursday 5/4 Public Policy Partner Involvement National/Federal Respond to Academy Action Alerts http://www.eatrightpro.org/action center Read Eat Right Weekly On the Pulse of Public Policy Attend PPW Public Policy Workshop in DC (visit 2 senators, 7 Representatives, education, networking, experience) Partner Involvement State Become a Public Policy Partner Contact legislators through email, phone, and in person visits Attend the Annual Meeting & Public Policy Day/Advocacy Day/Legislative Day Volunteer on our Public Policy Panel Low commitment positions Federal/State issues assistants, district legislative chair/policy liaison After deciding this may be for you 3 year positions on the board, most have elect year for training 5
Connecting with your Legislator Look up legislator http://www.scstatehouse.gov/legislatorssearch.php Click on the name of your SC State Senator or SC State Representative Click on Send a Message to Senator or Representative You can either call the office and ask for an email address, OR fill out the form with your demographic information, and attach a PDF document Consider using the sample script/template in the body of your message After you have communicated more regularly, you can use their direct email address Detailed instructions from PPP Coordinator scpolicypartners@gmail.com 6
When they respond! Initial emails may be information/introduction only Hey I m your Nutrition Expert and constituent Here is some information (so they continue to hear from you) You may be asking for a meeting In person meeting The 2nd regular session of the 121st South Carolina General Assembly January 12, 2016 June 2, 2016 Columbia during Jan June; Home District (regular day job) July Dec May want to meet in their office or call them out of session Phone call You may just want to talk over the phone to let them know who you are You may have something specific to ask them (we will let you know if there is specific legislation to discuss) Call them out! Talking Points Registered dietitians are the food and nutrition experts! RDs are the source of credible and useful Information South Carolinians and the nation have paid a price for overlooking/ignoring food and nutrition 7
Relationship Building The stronger your relationship is with a particular legislator, the more the legislator will respect you and listen to you. Even if there is not a specific bill on the horizon, talk to your legislators regularly about their professional practice and the value of the RD to the health care delivery system Stay in touch! Write thank you letters for meetings and site visits promptly When an elected official speaks out favorably on your issue or votes in committee or on the floor, write, call or email to acknowledge the support Relationship Maintaining When new information supporting Academy/SCAND positions is available, send it promptly and follow up with a call If you see a letter to the editor or op ed piece in your newspaper supporting the Academy's position on an issue, send it Peer reviewed professional journals are always a respected source of information. If you see a journal article that supports an issue, send it to the elected official along with a brief letter in which you explain the implications in lay terms. As always, use personal, local examples to illustrate the point. Be creative! Look for opportunities to stay in touch that will reinforce the need for effective nutrition and health policy. Connect on Social Media Follow and tag SCAND Annual Meeting #SCAND2016 Twitter @EatRightSC Facebook facebook.com/eatrightsc Instagram @SCANDORG Follow Academy Policy @EatRightPIA Follow your Federal & State Senators & Representatives Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram 8
Reporting on your Efforts As policy leaders, it is important for you to share your successes with the SCAND Public Policy team. To report on your efforts, use the Legislative Contact Report form weblink: http://tinyurl.com/legislativecontactreport Let others know about your advocacy work! Share your experiences about what worked most effectively and what points seemed to be most convincing. Send your pictures and success stories so that we can share our successes with other member leaders. Today = Policy Day Meet your state Legislators! Call them out of session to lobby Arrange meeting in office See in conference room/meeting Educate your state legislators about what we do as Dietitians and the profession of Dietetics! An opportunity to advocate for nutrition issues (when they are pertinent) Become familiar with the lay of the land and the players Overview of Policy Day Walk to the state house, walk around, move up to conference room for home base Submit white paper to call legislator out of session to introduce yourself, chat, and take a picture to post on social media! Observe the House/Senate Sessions Hear from lobbyist, legislative assistant and/or SC Legislator on policy/communications topic 9
Tools & Resources SCAND Public Policy & Advocacy page: http://www.eatrightsc.org/?page=ppp Academy Advocacy page: http://www.eatrightpro.org/resources/adv ocacy Track specific federal legislation & find your member of Congress: https://www.congress.gov/ Find your SC Legislators: http://www.scstatehouse.gov Questions? 10